This invention relates to coin handling, and more particularly to an improved mechanism for sorting coins of mixed denominations.
There are several basic types of coin sorting equipment which can be classified based upon their principle of operation. First if a so-called rail sorter in which coins are rolled on edge, single file down an inclined ramp or rail. In order of size, each coin denomination is removed at a particular point on the ramp or rail. Removal may be by way of protrusions, called plows, which bump a coin of a particular size off the rail. Naturally, the larger coins must be removed before the smaller coins. An example of such a rail-type sorter is found in U.S. Pat. No. 574,528, issued Jan. 5, 1897 to Elder, et al. A second form of coin sorter is the so-called core sorter in which individual coins are carried by an inclined rotating scalloped plate to an elevated opening where the coins are discharged into tapered slots arrayed about the periphery of a rotating core shaped like a truncated cone. The coin settles to a particular level in the tapered slot which is indicative of its size, and therefore its denomination, and is counted and removed from that level. An example of the core sorter is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,260, issued May 20, 1958 to Buchholz. A third form is the sifter type of sorter in which the coins pass through a series of perforated plates of descending opening size until caught at a level appropriate to their size. An example of sifter-type sorter is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,034 issued Nov. 23, 1982 to Davila, et al.
Still another form of sorter employs a horizontal rotating disc and mechanisms by which the coins are carried by centrifugal force to an outer rim where the coins are formed into a single file. The coins may be removed at various points on the periphery by plows (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,276, issued Sept. 29, 1959 to Blanchette, et al.), or by flipping them over the rim (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,928, issued May 2, 1978 to Ristvedt, et al.). This latter patent utilizes a rotating disc which has an upper surface formed as a flexible mat which is compressible by the coins. Another approach using a flexible rotating disc is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,280, issued July 4, 1978 and its related U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,003, issued Nov. 8, 1980 to Ristvedt, et al. In that approach, the coins are arrayed in a single file against a ledge until they encounter spaced areas where the coins are no longer held between a sorter plate and the rotating disc and are free to be thrown from the disc by centrifugal force.
The coin sorter of the present invention also utilizes a rotating resilient disc but operates on the principle that the coins are continuously pinched between the disc and an overlying sorter plate until they are physically removed at spaced stations around the periphery of the disc, with each station unique to a particular denomination of coin. The disc surface has a high coefficient of friction compared to the plate so that it carries coins over the surface of the plate as the disc rotates.